The Barrier
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: The small changes, the subtlety to them... no one ever intended on breaking anyone's heart but they couldn't control how things turned out. (Co-written with Cry-Of-A-Warp-Engine)
1. Broken Down Walls

_**Two days ago…**_

 _Amanda curled her arms around her pillow, tired still but having trouble settling back into sleep… for a second, she thought of going to try to shut Seth and Zahra up as they argued but as she tried to sit up, Finn's right arm wrapped around Amanda's back as his sleepy blue eyes opened._

" _Let them yell it out…" Finn whispered as Amanda rested her head on his right shoulder and Finn lightly rubbing his hand up and down her back as he knew that she was in no mood for Seth and Zahra's fighting._

" _I wish one of them would fucking leave the hotel and be done with it already." Amanda muttered._

" _Yeah… there is a point where it just gets to the point where_ _you leave it. Those two just… they crave the fight, both of them do." Finn replied._

 _She knew he was right, the arguing wasn't out of the ordinary with Seth and Zahra._

 _It was a few hours later after Raw that Amanda heard a knock at the door before it opened and Zahra walked in._

" _You need to fix things with him." Zahra said, Amanda looking at her._

" _Can't fix what's not really there… and really Zahra, I don't feel like talking to you either." Amanda responded, Zahra knowing that the nude photo scandal involving her and Seth was something Amanda saw as disrespect towards Seth's now ex fiancee Leighla… and Zahra angrily grabbed the brunette by her wrist, Amanda snatching it away._

" _You think you're so damn innocent!" Zahra snarled._

" _I didn't go cheating and lying to someone and leaving them to believe that I was ready to spend the rest of my life with them as their spouse! You got him away from her now, how long do you think he's gonna stay in your bed or has he already found another tramp?" Amanda snapped at her, Zahra shoving her into the edge of the table._

 _Without warning, Amanda lunged at Zahra and the fight escalated to the hallway, Seth and Finn jumping back and forgetting about their own argument when the two divas crashed into the wall._

" _Stop this fucking fighting!" Seth shouted as he yanked Amanda off of Zahra by her hair and she turned and kicked him between his legs, Seth falling to his knees as Finn pulled Amanda back and pressed a paper towel to her wound._

" _Now this is anger." Roman said as they reached the hallway, Dean nodding in agreement._

" _You're a disloyal hypocritical bitch!" Zahra yelled._

" _All I did was make a new friendship, how is that disloyal?!" Amanda shouted before Dean and Roman ran over to them._

" _Because Seth wanted you exclusive to him… not necessarily in a romantic way." Dean said._

" _Shut up Dean!" Seth snapped at him._

" _Well what else explains you being jealous?!" Dean responded._

 _Zahra stormed off to the room, Seth following after her._

" _Zahra-" Seth started to say._

" _Maybe you should try to put more energy into our relationship and leave Mandy up to dealing with her own life!" Zahra yelled._

" _I don't want her getting her heart broken again!" Seth shouted, Zahra not believing his answer._

" _You know what I got told earlier? I was fired… and you? You just care about wanting to keep her by your side! You know what?! I've had it, we're done!" Zahra said, turning to pack her things but Seth stopped her. "Get off of me!" She snapped at him, shoving him away._

" _You're not leaving, let's fix this!" Seth said._

 _Dean's eyes widened as before he could process it, Seth's clothes were thrown out the door and into the hallway before other things were being thrown out the window, Dean finding Roman._

" _What's going on now?" Roman asked._

" _Hellish breakup, she's throwing his things out of their room." Dean answered before both heard Finn yell out in pain as he had gone into the hallway to see what was going on and the room alarm clock hit his head._

" _Aim the other way!" Amanda yelled at Zahra before guiding Finn back into their room. "You alright?" She asked as she checked for any wounds but he stopped her, resting his hands on her wrists._

" _I'm fine, trust me. We get way worse than alarm clocks to the head, you and me." Finn said._

" _We're gonna catch hell for this." Amanda replied as she put a gel pack on Finn's head… and he knew what Dean had said earlier had rattled her a bit, his hands now resting on both sides of her face. "When does anyone realise when they've crossed a line, even without meaning to? Before we knew it, Seth and I were inseparable… and it did trigger a lot of responses but I thought it was just the kind of atmosphere of our work, relationships here are closer than the ones at home."_

" _When you form a bond with someone… it's hard to realise when everything blurs." Finn answered as he pulled Amanda into his lap and held her to him…_

 **Present time…**

He watched her as she was sleeping… given how early it was, Finn didn't blame Amanda one bit for not wanting to wake up.

He quietly reached over and ran the fingers on his right hand through her hair, which had been cut recently and now was at her collarbone.

Amanda's eyes opened and she let out a small yawn before looking at him, Finn kissing her on her forehead.

"Is it actually quiet here?" Amanda whispered in slight disbelief.

"I noticed that too…" Finn said, his arms wrapping around Amanda and her slightly messy curls brushing against his jaw.

At the same time, Seth was wandering around the city in a tired haze and thinking back to the days when Amanda used to join him on these early morning walks.

But while he missed her being by his side, he was still angry… he was kicking himself for distancing himself from her.

And now he felt like he was losing her.


	2. Is It Fixable?

_**10/31/12…**_

" _Having fun, you?" Seth asked as he spun Amanda around, her dressed as Harley Quinn and him dressed as The Joker._

" _Yes but I'm probably gonna end up throwing up on you if we don't stop soon." Amanda answered, Seth setting her back on her feet and the two chuckling before her left arm absentmindedly linked into his right one and he grabbed his phone._

" _Smile, Mandy." Seth said, aiming the camera app at them when it was facing towards them and both smiling as he took the picture. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on her forehead, Amanda smiling and laughing softly as Seth took the photo._

" _You two having fun over there?" Dean asked drunkenly, Roman nudging him._

" _You need to ease off the alcohol, Dean." Roman muttered as he fixed his Batman costume._

" _What? They look so cute together." Dean responded as he readjusted part of his Robin costume. "Hey Joker, Harley! We've gotta get on going!" He shouted._

" _You two go on ahead, we'll meet up with you tomorrow!" Seth responded, Roman dragging Dean with him._

" _Why does he always drink the most on Halloween?" Amanda asked._

" _Dean's never really been one to slow down. He'll be alright, just hungover like there's no tomorrow." Seth answered as he and Amanda hugged._

 _Amanda knew he was right… but she still worried…_

 **Present time…**

The look on her face was a startled one at first when she stumbled across TMZ on Fox 35 and saw the photos of Zahra… and immediately flipped channels, considering the photos to be racist.

"Something like that is gonna cost someone their job, doesn't matter how long ago they were taken. It explains why both were so angry that night." Amanda said after Finn sat back down next to her and lightly rubbed the back of her neck and right shoulder… before both jumped back as the unusually strong wind threw a trash can into the side of the building.

"The hell was that?!" Finn questioned as the wind settled and a few stones hit the side of the building, putting chips and cracks in many of the windows.

"Someone went and pissed Mother Nature off." Amanda responded as she stood up when she heard a knock at the door and opened it, nearly screaming when Sami had multiple cuts on him from glass. She helped him into the room as Finn found the first aid kit.

"A tree branch just went flying through the damn window." Sami said as Amanda patched him up.

"This is strange weather, even for hurricane season." Amanda responded, attempting to head outside but Finn stopped her.

"We don't know what could be going on. For all we know, it could've been a tiny tornado that's still gliding around the block." Finn said.

"He's got a point, kiddo." Sami replied, Amanda sitting back down. "Why do you have bruises on the back of your shoulder?" He asked.

"Zahra started a fight." Amanda answered before all three heard a scream in the hallway. "Dean?!" She called out, running into the hallway and finding him with his nose bleeding.

"Don't go outside until this calms down, I just got hit by a driver's side mirror that was taken clean off the car!" Dean said after resetting his nose, Amanda helping him into the room and closing the door.

Amanda picked up her Samsung Galaxy s6, dialing Hunter's number.

"I was just about to call you, don't go to the arena until whatever's going on outside calms down." Hunter said.

"Was just about to say that, Sami nearly got hit by a flying tree branch and Dean got hit by a car mirror… this ain't typical Florida weather, something ain't right." Amanda responded.

"Neither is a tornado in Spain and snowstorms in northern Australia, check the news out. It's happening all over the place, weather going nuts." Hunter said, Finn hearing that and looking on the news app of his phone.

"He's right… also the sea level lowered by 14 feet in Asia and a volcano dormant for thousands of years is showing activity signs out of the blue in the UK." Finn replied.

"This is getting crazy." Dean said as the wind had calmed down enough outside.

Amanda looked closer outside, seeing what looked like a small dove before the dove flew off.

But it was later at the American Airlines Arena for the SmackDown taping that Amanda, now in her ring attire, a crisscrossed halter style grey and teal cropped top and grey and teal shorts, her shoulder taped up after she put her kneepads on and tied her ring boots that she had seen the dove again… this time, the dove was on Paige's right shoulder.

"Poor thing nearly got caught in the wind storm outside." Paige said.

"Something's thrown the balance off… your family okay in Norwich, they didn't get caught up in this?" Amanda replied.

"They're alright…" Paige answered before the dove flew to the ground… and a bright light surrounded her, the two women closing their eyes to avoid being blinded.

When they opened their eyes, a young girl was standing where the dove used to be.

"Did I just… ouch…" The girl hissed quietly, crouching down and picking up a feather that had come from her, looking over her shoulder as she moved one of two shining white wings forward, her left hand reaching over her right shoulder where the wing was and lightly brushing through it's feathers until she found a small hole where the dropped one had been pulled out of.

"Here, sit down." Amanda said, helping the girl sit down on the couch and the girl seeing the jade toned green polish on Amanda's nails and smiling because it reminded her of the sea.

"I've always loved that colour… shallow ocean over mossy rocks or trees on a clear and bright day." The girl said, glancing up at Amanda as she carefully placed one hand's fingers around the edge of the wing, lightly feeling it's feathers, naturally like half of her couldn't quite believe what was in front of her.

"So soft… like a cloud." Amanda said. "What's your name kiddo?" She asked.

"Ariel… for short. My true name is… well, it's a song. They all are." The girl replied, clenching her right eye shut for a moment as Amanda's careful fingers found the small hole, which was bleeding a little bit.

Amanda lightly pressed some gauze that Paige handed to her to Ariel's wing, Ariel seeing the tape on the back of Amanda's shoulder.

"Someone hurt you worse than this." Ariel said quietly.

"Things got a bit crazy last night…" Amanda responded, glancing at her phone when it rang and letting it ring as she could hear the dial tone in the hallway. "Stay here… Paige, cover her ears if yelling starts." She said before heading into the hallway, Seth turning startled when he saw blood on her fingers.

"What the hell happened?!" Seth asked.

"It's not mine." Amanda answered, turning back around but she hissed as Seth touched her bruised shoulder and turned back, Seth lowering his hand.

"Mandy-" Seth started to say.

"We'll talk when we're both cooled down, I know that you're still angry…" Amanda said.

"I… I know I am, I just wanted to make sure you were alright and then you've come out with bloody fingers, what's happening?" Seth responded.

Amanda opened the door and both walked in, Seth's eyes widening in shock when he saw Ariel's wing bleeding.

"I think I caught it in the carpet when I changed, behind the light I form into a fetal position with the wings wrapped…" Ariel was midway through explaining to Paige before stopped as she saw Seth, staring at him for a moment… before she used her wings for a quick downthrust and launched herself backwards towards the table, which she landed behind and tried to shield herself with.

"Hey, it's alright, Ariel. It's okay." Amanda said as she crouched down, Ariel lowering her wings.

"Paige… is she a…" Seth tried to ask, Paige nodding.

"You're not seeing things, Seth." Paige answered.


	3. Tangled Up

_**6/23/15…**_

 _Seth was walking around when he saw the filming crew… and saw what they were filming, one of the promos for The Beast In The East pay per view._

 _Aestrid, who had been supervising, turned and saw him and how angered he was. Thinking to keep things controlled, she walked over and physically stopped him from charging over towards Finn and Amanda._

" _It's work, back off!" Aestrid warned lowly, Seth leaving._

 _But it didn't mean that Amanda didn't notice._

 _It was later during the Raw event that she found him._

" _Hey… that was great out there." Seth heard, seeing Amanda… she reached out to hug him but stopped when he lightly pressed his fingers into her collarbone. "Okay, that's not like you at all… what's going on here, Seth?" The 25 year old diva said, confused._

" _Nothing." Seth answered and turned to leave… he reached the edge of the hallway when he heard "You know, I'm getting really sick of this, Rollins!" and turned back, walking to Amanda._

" _What did you just say to me?!" Seth demanded._

" _Lately, you've treated me like we barely know each other… and you might not care but that hurts me, Seth. What did I do wrong, why don't you want anything to do with me anymore?" Amanda responded, Seth slamming the WWE Championship down in rage and muttering a name under his breath… but Amanda heard it. "He is my friend but the Demon King and Demon Mistress thing, it's just a storyline, Seth. Just like The Shield splitting apart was for the cameras, it shouldn't affect us backstage. Are you feeling threatened that you're losing me?" She said before he turned back to her._

" _Well it does! Before we know it, you'll be in the same bed and room, you'll be walking out into the arena hand in hand, leg up and lips together and it will be far from 'just an act'!" Seth said._

 _Amanda closed her hazel eyes for a split second and balled up her left hand, only to open her eyes and see her old friend Joey Mercury._

" _Both of you calm down." Joey said, trying to keep the peace between the two._

" _Joey, stay outta this!" Seth snapped at him._

 _Amanda carefully pulled her hand away and walked off, Joey turning to Seth._

" _That was low, even for you! Mandy is a damn loyal friend, you idiot! And now you just want to kick her to the side because she's found the kind of happiness she hasn't had in years?!" Joey said._

 _Down the hallway, Amanda was wanting to just disappear entirely._

 _She'd give him his space… but she was getting fed up with his behavior…_

 **Present time…**

Amanda went to go clear her mind after washing the blood off her fingers and stopped as she reached the middle of the hallway… she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes at around the same time that Finn walked down the hall and stopped in front of her, seeing her rubbing the back of her neck.

"I know you're standing there." Amanda said without opening her eyes.

"Damn, you're good…" Finn responded as Amanda opened her eyes. "What's going on?" He asked, his right hand resting on her left shoulder.

"Paige walked into the locker room with a dove on her shoulder… but then the dove flew down to the floor and turned into a small angel." Amanda explained.

"That's… not something you hear every day." Finn responded, unsure of how exactly to take it.

"Or see…" Amanda said as they headed back to the locker room and found Ariel in the hallway, her wound no longer bleeding. "Did they say they needed to talk?" She asked.

"Yeah." Ariel answered, Amanda curiously putting her left ear against the door.

"That explains why your jeans were on my rental car two days ago… things aren't getting much better between you and Mandy though." Paige said.

"I miss the closeness she and I had, Paige." Seth responded.

"She misses it too. But she doesn't want to choose between you and him. Things are changing… those two really like each other. You might not like how it ends up but they're not rushing into anything." Paige replied.

Amanda backed away from the door and Finn rested his hand on her back, Ariel seeing the look in her eyes.

"It's a better way… not that I'd really know though." Ariel said.

"Before we even realised it, things had changed…" Amanda said before they noticed Roman, soaked from head to toe. "Rainstorm?" She asked.

"I would consider it normal South Florida weather but it was more like a monsoon outside… only lasted for a few minutes though." Roman answered as he noticed Ariel. "Hi there." He said.

"Something's disrupted things… not sure what though." Ariel responded.

 _ **Later, Amanda Cena vs Sasha Banks…**_

"I'm not exactly sure why you're out here when Mandy's only involvement in your match against Sting at Night Of Champions is at ringside supporting her childhood idol." Michael Cole said as the match progressed and Seth was on commentary.

"Being champion means scouting any and all threats to that match and thinking up ways to counter them." Seth responded as Sasha trapped Amanda in an inverted headlock in the ropes but had to let go.

Sasha backed up and Amanda took a few seconds to rub her sore shoulder before Sasha tried to go for another headlock, only to end up on the receiving end of a jaw jacking kick from Amanda.

"That's one way to answer back, the Demon Mistress is putting the self proclaimed Boss back in her place!" Jerry Lawler exclaimed as Amanda went for the sharpshooter… but she added a twist and bent back to trap Sasha in a headlock as well. "Inverted version of the Coquina Clutch, shades of NXT mainstay Samoa Joe!" He exclaimed.

Amanda released the hold once Sasha grabbed the bottom rope and dragged Sasha back away from them before heading up to the top rope.

"It feels weird to see Mandy out in the ring without NXT Champion Finn Balor-" Jerry started to say.

"Get out of that NXT mindset, Jerry!" Seth snapped at him as Amanda hit the Coup De Grace and pinned Sasha for the three count, the bell ringing and Amanda's hand being raised in victory.

Amanda felt arms around her and turned around, her and Finn hugging and him spinning her around before Seth got into the ring with a microphone.

"Bravo on that victory and this little celebration… but this isn't NXT, you two and around here, I'm the one at the top. But hey… even if you do lose that NXT Championship, Finn… you'll have my former Shield sister on top of-" Seth started to say as scripted to.

But Amanda took exception as she knew Seth was enjoying insulting them and slammed her right foot under Seth's jaw and knocked him down, Finn pulling her back and out of the ring as the commentators recomposed themselves and got ready for the next part of the show.

In the backstage area, Amanda leaned against the wall in frustration as Finn rested his hands on her wrists and lightly rubbed them.

"He says he misses me but then he goes and pulls that stunt out there!" Amanda said as Finn's hands moved up to her shoulders, Amanda pursing her matte rose pink lips together for a few seconds.

"I don't know what goes through his mind when he does that… maybe Dean was right, Seth could just be jealous." Finn responded, carefully pulling Amanda into his arms and lightly rubbing his left hand up and down her back while the fingers on his right hand ran through part of her hair and lightly twirled some of the strands before he massaged the back of her head as she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

She just wanted to get lost in the comfort… and he didn't blame her in the slightest.


	4. Beyond Conflict

Ice held to his jaw, Seth looked up and saw Ariel.

"Forgot how angry people can get." Ariel said.

"She was just supposed to slap me, not fuck up my jaw!" Seth responded.

"Well maybe if you didn't take enjoyment from insulting her, even if scripted, she probably would've just slapped you! You say that you miss her and then you go and pull that, of course she'd take exception to it!" Ariel said.

"What I said was part of the script, couldn't change it at the last minute!" Seth said defensively.

"Yeah but the thing is, you said every word not just from the script but from your own mind, you enjoyed those words and I felt it!" Ariel said angrily until drafts of wind started and she breathed a few times in and out to calm down.

Seth backed up and Ariel left, looking around… it didn't take too long to find them either.

"Why is it that whenever there's tension backstage, the writers use it for the scripts?" Amanda muttered as she tried to move her toes on her right foot but didn't have much luck.

"They want to create the gossip and drama… that equates to more of those dollars people all seem so obsessed with." Ariel replied.

"I think the writers sometimes take things too personally…" Amanda said, hissing slightly as Finn had set an ice pack onto her foot and the freezing feeling was a brief shock to her skin. She turned to her phone when it rang, seeing it was Aestrid and answering it. "You were watching that, weren't you?" She asked.

"As well as the NXT roster here at the Performance Centre… and from the background noise, they've gone a bit crazy." Aestrid answered.

"A bit? Ace, it sounds like a full blown screaming match." Finn said once the phone was on speaker.

"And there's usually that, everybody going crazy wondering what's true and what isn't." Amanda said once Ariel sat down.

"That's part of what made humans and… why I have so much less to do with you in my powers." Ariel said.

"Every one of you, chill the hell out!" Aestrid yelled at the members of the NXT roster, half of them going quiet and the other half muttering. "Don't think I don't hear that, Little Miss Bliss! Your mouth should be washed out with soap!" She said when she heard Alexa's insults towards Amanda before both hung up.

Amanda snickered at that last part as memories of Paul Heyman being held down by Chris Benoit and Amanda's brother John shoving soap into Paul's mouth resurfaced, Ariel knowing that Amanda remembered the good times.

"Those days were the ones you always think of when it gets tough… I like to remember back to the days of creation at times. Though I wasn't there… but when one angel of power passes their position to someone else, the new angel gets… sort of a copy of their predecessor during their time in the position." Ariel said.

"I miss those days… back then, I didn't think things would turn out how they did. By the time I was 17… I didn't even recognise myself in the mirror anymore." Amanda responded.

"Think of what I get, remembering over the past and seeing about 20 or so different faces in the mirror." Ariel said.

"It took… what felt like forever to feel normal again." Amanda said, the knock on the door the one she had been dreading.

"Mandy?" Hunter asked.

Amanda stood up with Finn helping her and headed to the door, opening it and heading into the hallway.

"He already spoke to you, didn't he?" Amanda asked, Hunter seeing that she wasn't putting much weight on her right foot.

"I don't like what he said out there any more than you do… but you could've easily broken his jaw. And your foot, it seems like." Hunter answered.

"It's just bruised…" Amanda said after Hunter got her to sit down on a crate… and saw the tears threatening to spill over from her eyes. "He said he missed it… but it doesn't feel like Seth misses that at all, I feel like he hates me…" She whispered as Hunter pulled her into his arms and rubbed his right hand up and down her back.

The door opened and Hunter looked up, seeing Finn and Ariel.

"Stay here with her, please?" Hunter said quietly after he and Amanda let go and she was in Finn's arms before he left, Ariel following him.

"You're far from happy about what's happening." Ariel said as they stopped by a window where Hunter took a moment to breathe in some fresh air from outside.

"I watched that kid grow up… helped her pick herself back up even when she tried to tell me she was okay. She finds some stability and Seth is deadset in destroying it." Hunter responded, hitting his fist against the window pane and Ariel getting him to step back from it.

"Believe it or not, that tree is dead that made up the window frame, you won't hurt it. Just your own hand." Ariel said, Hunter knowing that in other words she was saying that hitting the window and taking out his anger wasn't going to do any good.

Hunter took another deep breath and headed to the locker room… only to jump back when the door flew open and Seth hit the floor, Hunter seeing John.

"What my little sister does in her private life is none of your business, you had no right running your mouth about it on Tv!" John said angrily as Seth pulled himself up, Seth angrier than he was earlier and Hunter and Ariel forced to intervene.

"All that online craze has gotten to your head, get it in there that it was scripted!" Seth shouted, moments before Ariel formed a pile of salt in her hand and threw it at his face.

"Enough, both of you!" Hunter said before smiling at Ariel. "Nice one, kiddo, brought back old memories of Mr. Fuji doing that." He whispered, Ariel smiling.

"Things were different in those days." Ariel said, Hunter turning to Seth.

"Scripted or not, you got Mandy thinking that you hate her! She was crying!" Hunter said after rinsing Seth's eyes out with water, Seth drying his face off.

"Is that why I just got salt thrown in my eyes?!" Seth asked.

"That and acting like you didn't just rip Mandy's heart out and break it!" John answered angrily.

At the same time, Amanda wrapped a towel around her after drying off and stepping out of the shower before she washed her makeup off and put some Clear Eyes eye drops in.

Amanda reapplied her makeup the same way she had applied it this morning and put it away before pulling her hair out of its messy bun. When she was ready for the remainder of the show, she set the towel aside and walked into the locker room, her and Finn hugging and his hand rubbing up and down her back as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You don't need to build the wall back up around me… I'll never hurt you, Mandy." Finn whispered as he kissed her on her forehead, his hands now cradling her face as her hands rested on his sides.

It wasn't long before they held each other again… they just wanted to stay like that.


	5. Far From Calmed

_**11/17/14…**_

 _It had been ten days since she had seen him or talked to him over the phone… Amanda found herself in front of the locker room at the Performance Centre and pushed the door open._

 _It was cracked open but enough for her to see… immediately, she took off and the door closed, Seth and Zahra pulling their shirts back on._

" _Oh damn! Stay here!" Seth said, rushing out of the locker room and finding Amanda as she reached the South hallway and grabbed her by her right arm, knocking her phone to the ground and cracking the screen as she tried to ignore the ringing in her ears and ache in her head._

" _Get off of me!" Amanda snapped, shoving Seth back. "I was in the damn hospital and you didn't stop by to see me! I called you repeatedly because Leighla showed up and said she hadn't heard from you in days like I haven't! How do you think she's gonna react when she finds out that you're cheating on her?!" She said after she picked up her phone._

" _You were gonna rat me out?!" Seth demanded._

" _Well you clearly don't intend on telling your fiancee that you're a two timing bastard!" Amanda responded, dialing Leighla's number which infuriated Seth._

 _Without any warning, Seth snatched Amanda's phone and smashed it against the wall repeatedly and accidentally elbowed Amanda in the mouth when she tried to stop him._

" _You son of a bitch, my alarms were on that!" Amanda yelled as blood trailed down her lower lip when Liara found her._

" _Go find him." Liara whispered, Amanda leaving._

 _She explained everything to Finn after finding him… and then had to keep him from going back into the centre. When they were back at the apartment, she set her medicine alarms on his phone after he patched her lip up._

 _But she knew he wouldn't stay calm for long._

 _The two decided to head on to Finn's apartment for a horror movie marathon to distract themselves_

 _It was around 4 in the morning when Amanda's eyes snapped open as Finn rubbed his hand up and down her back, Amanda taking deep breaths as she realised she had been screaming violently._

" _Hey, it's alright… it was just a nightmare, lass." Finn whispered, Amanda looking around._

 _The horror movies they rented were scattered around the coffee table_ in _the living room, she wasn't being tortured by a demon._

 _Amanda relaxed more as Finn ran his fingers through her collarbone length hair, Finn picking her up into his arms after stopping the DvD of Amityville Horror and took Amanda upstairs. Tucking her into the bed, he walked back downstairs and reorganized the DvDs before returning upstairs and getting under the covers before once again running his fingers through Amanda's hair._

" _You're really shook up, Mandy… I think we need to cut back on the horror movies for a bit." Finn said as his right hand now_ _rested on her back._

" _Yeah… we should." Amanda whispered as she moved closer to Finn and his arms wrapped around her shaking body as she made sure her medicine was nearby…_

 **Present time,** _ **Dean Ambrose/Roman Reigns vs The New Day…**_

"I'm surprised you're back out here after what had transpired earlier…" Jerry said after removing his headset, Amanda doing the same.

"The night's not done yet, pal." Amanda responded before both put their headsets back on.

The match progressed evenly… until Xavier interfered, causing a disqualification. Amanda got back up as scripted to and tossed Xavier into the ring, which put him on the receiving end of the Dirty Deeds by Dean.

When the last part of the show was over, Dean caught up to Amanda in the backstage area.

"Why are you limping, did you break your foot when you kicked his jaw?!" Dean asked.

"No, I didn't… it just hurts, that's all." Amanda answered before she turned to leave, Dean stopping her and her looking at him.

"He's not gonna make it any easier for you… Seth doesn't hate you, he wants you back by his side like the old days." Dean said.

"I know that Dean… Seth can get as angry as he wants to, I'm just done with it. He can't control what I do and I'm not gonna be back by his side just so he can distance himself from me again." Amanda said before she left, heading into her and Finn's locker room. "Has it stopped pouring out there?" She asked.

"Last I checked, yes. Ariel's said she was onto something that disrupted the balance… you run into Dean? You usually have that look on your face when he's said something's that's angered you further." Finn answered, zipping his duffel bag up.

"Yeah… what a hell of a day." Amanda responded as Finn lightly rubbed his right hand up and down her left arm before his hand squeezed hers.

"It has been a hell of a day." Finn said before they grabbed their things and left.

It was later at the hotel when Amanda, wearing one of Finn's Balor Club shirts and half asleep, had her earbuds in and music playing.

 _Baby you'll come knocking on my front door  
Same old line you used to use before  
I said ya, well, what am I supposed to do_

 _I didn't know what I was getting into  
So you've had a little trouble in town  
Now you're keeping some demons down_

 _Stop draggin' my,  
Stop draggin' my,  
Stop draggin' my heart around_

 _It's hard to think about what you've wanted  
It's hard to think about what you've lost_

 _This doesn't have to be the big get even  
This doesn't have to be anything at all_

 _I know you really want to tell me good-bye  
I know you really want to be your own girl_

 _Baby you could never look me in the eye  
Yeah you buckle with the weight of the words_

 _Stop draggin' my,  
Stop draggin' my,  
Stop draggin' my heart around_

Amanda turned her IHeartRadio app off, closed it out and set her phone and earbuds aside as she settled into Finn's arms when exhaustion became too much to ignore.

At the same time, Ariel was in a rural area of Miami... and couldn't believe what she had found.


End file.
